St. Mike’s hopes to end losing streak by facing teams on its level
Horsemen on 6-game slide after playing against larger competition
The district season begins Thursday for the St. Michael’s Horsemen.
That might be a week earlier than the schedule suggests, but that is the approach the Horsemen are taking as they head into their last series of nondistrict games with the round-robin Horsemen Shootout.
It is the first time in almost a month that St. Michael’s faces teams in its own classification (4A), but it will get a crash course of games involving those schools, starting with Silver at 7 p.m. Thursday in Perez-Shelley Gymnasium. Following that will be Portales on Friday and a rematch with Santa Fe Indian School to finish the tournament Saturday. The Braves and Horsemen faced each other in the Bobby Rodriguez Capital City Tournament on Dec. 9, with St. Michael’s winning 65-60.
“It’s a really big weekend because of the schools that are here and in our classification,” St. Michael’s head coach David Rodriguez said. “With districts around the corner next week, we’ve got to pick up some momentum.”
Picking up wins against two teams ranked in the top four of the latest New Mexico Overtime SportsCenter coaches poll (Silver is No. 3, Portales fourth) and another (SFIS) that knocked off the No. 9 team in the state in West Las Vegas on Tuesday would certainly do just that. And the Horsemen could use the boost after losing six straight games, albeit all of those losses are against 5A and 6A com-
petition or Texas schools.
There is a sense from St. Michael’s that playing such tough competition might be helpful for the rest of the season.
“We shouldn’t see too many teams at that level from here on out,” junior guard Jevon Montoya said. “It does play a huge role in playing some strong competition before we play 4-A teams. We’ve had some tough games where we held in there, but right now, it’s make or break.”
However, it’s how St. Michael’s has lost that has been a point of consternation. The Horsemen held the lead for three quarters before bowing to Belen 52-48 in the opening round of the Clovis Invitational on Dec. 28. Against Española Valley on Jan. 3, they were within 36-34 at the half before turnovers and poor communication on defense allowed the undefeated Sundevils roll to a 73-54 win.
The following day, the Horsemen were sluggish in the third quarter again, and Albuquerque Academy broke an 18-all halftime tie to take a 38-32 win.
“Some of those games with those big 5-A schools, nobody expected us to be in the game with any of them,” senior guard Antonio Gabaldon said. “We came out ready to prove ourselves against them. After being in a game with them, I think we just hit a lull and get complacent. We don’t come out with that same hunger and drive like we did in the first half.”
That change in attitude has often manifested itself in one category — turnovers. When the Horsemen put together a consistent effort in a 63-50 win over Capital on Dec. 19, they committed just eight turnovers. They were within a bucket of Española because they only committed 11 of their 27 turnovers in the first half.
If St. Michael’s takes care of the ball, it will go a long way toward changing its fortunes.
“You have to be confident with the ball, and you still have to be aggressive and attack their weaknesses,” Rodriguez said. “Now, you’re going to have some turnovers when you’re aggressive with the basketball, but if you’re smart and strong with it, more of those opportunities are going to be good. And then you get to the free-throw line and get more attempts.”